This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Pac-12 made it through the first day of the college football season unbeaten, but that's only because the calendar had turned to Friday morning in the mainland by the time Colorado lost at Hawaii.  The Buffaloes' 28-20 defeat offset the predicted wins by Utah and Arizona. The other nine conference teams will be in action this weekend, with two games Friday and seven Saturday.  Friday's games Weber State at Oregon State, 6 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks This game reunites two former Utah assistants, with Gary Andersen making his Oregon State coaching debut and Jay Hill starting his second year at Weber State. Hill's team is biting off a lot in the first two weeks, of the season by visiting a Pac-12 school and then traveling to four-time FCS defending champion North Dakota State. Similarly, the Wildcats opened with Arizona State and NDSU (at home) last year.  The biggest mystery is how Andersen and offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin will deploy two freshman quarterbacks, as the Beavers warm up for next week's trip to Michigan. Oregon State 35, Weber State 14.  Washington at Boise State, 8:15 p.m. MDT, ESPN Speaking of reunions, this one's classic homecoming appearance for former Boise State coach Chris Petersen, starting his second year with the Huskies. The surprising element of this matchup is that the Broncos may have better personnel. Having said that, Washington overwhelmed Boise State 38-6 to begin Petersen's final season with the Broncos. Can things have changed that much for the worse for the Huskies in two years? Maybe so, because that was anything but a vintage Boise State team. So I'll stick with the favorite here. Boise State 35, Washington 28.  Saturday's games Stanford at Northwestern, 10 a.m. MDT, ESPN The week's second matchup of the Pac-12 and Big Ten (following Utah-Michigan) brings together two like-minded schools, each enjoying a football rebirth lately. The scheduling makes sense, in other words. As for the relative strengths of the programs, if Cal was good enough to win at Northwestern last season (31-24), Stanford should do the same this year. Stanford 31, Northwestern 21.  Portland State at Washington State, noon MDT, Pac-12 Networks Utahns in general and Cache Valley residents in particular should have interest in this game, pairing quarterback Luke Falk of Logan High and Washington State against Alex Kuresa of Mountain Crest and Portland State. Each of them will rack up some big numbers, but Falk will have much more help. Washington State 55, Portland State 28.  Virginia at UCLA, 1:30 p.m. MDT, Fox Even with a veteran quarterback last year, UCLA's offense struggled in a 28-20 win at Virginia, while the Bruin defense delivered three touchdowns. In the rematch at the Rose Bowl, UCLA will turn to freshman quarterback Josh Rosen. The suspension of return specialist Ishmael Adams will take away part of UCLA's game, but the Bruins should have less trouble with Virginia than last year. UCLA 28, Virginia 14.  Grambling State at California, 3 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks The Bears came close to qualifying for a bowl game last year, and they believe they're ready to break through in the third year of coach Sonny Dykes and quarterback Jared Goff working together in Berkeley. Opening the season with an FCS opponent should further encourage them. California 42, Grambling 21.  Texas A&M vs. Arizona State (Houston), 5 p.m. MDT, ESPN Other than possibly Utah-Michigan, this is the Pac-12's highest-profile game of the season, at a theoretically neutral site. It certainly will feel like a home game for Texas A&M, making it a tough task for the Sun Devils. This should be an entertaining contest, with both teams capable of putting up a lot of points. There's some intrigue with Phoenix-area product Kyle Allen quarterbacking the Aggies, while Mike Bercovici launches his senior season for ASU after a long wait to take over the job. Arizona State 38, Texas A&M 31.  Eastern Washington at Oregon, 6 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks This game would be more interesting if quarterback Vernon Adams still played for Eastern Washington. Of course, it will be instructive to see how Adams fits into Oregon's offense. It's just that he was so good against Pac-12 opponents as an FCS player, and he's no longer the underdog. EWU is still one of the country's top teams at its level and shouldn't be overwhelmed on both sides of the ball, but the Eagles know that dealing with Adams is difficult. Oregon 45, Eastern Washington 21.  Arkansas State at USC, 9 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks USC coach Steve Sarkisian may have thought he experienced everything that could happen in the early stages of last season, but the tumultuous series of events continued recently with his embarrassing performance at a booster function. Nobody will be happier than Sarkisian to get the season started and provide other material for discussion. Arkansas State is a respectable program from the Sun Belt Conference, but the Red Wolves should cooperate in their visit to the Coliseum. USC 38, Arkansas State 17.  – Kurt Kragthorpe